With many established businesses just trying to survive, you might not think it's a good time to start a company, let alone ask anyone for money to help get it rolling. But if a series of presentations from fledgling Silicon Valley start-ups is any indication, innovation is not braking for the recession.

Tales about life on the run from repressive North Korea women who end up at the mercy of human traffickers, children who grow up in hiding drew the team of American reporters to the Chinese-North Korean border.

Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota's (TM)founder, was named president of the Japanese automaker Tuesday as it struggles to ride out a slump in the global market that dragged annual sales lower for the first time in a decade.

The Super Bowl is on track to remain one big, glitzy bash even in these tough economic times. That's not to say some advertisers aren't nervous about buying expensive ad slots as business falters. Some stalwarts such as General Motors Corp., FedEx Corp. and Garmin Ltd. won't be advertising on the Feb. 1 broadcast on NBC. Playboy Enterprises Inc. isn't throwing its customary party at the game, for the first time in nine years.